[Televisionary]

"Technically, I'm from no place you ever heard of." - Peter Bishop In its second season, Fringe has proven itself quite adept at tweaking its own formula, moving away from the episodic deadly-scientist-plot-of-the-week to a more balanced mix of procedural installments that have been underpinned by an increasingly strong mythology and an emotional core. Last week's episode, the noir-musical "Brown Betty," offered a bit of a breather amid the shape-shifters, alternate world warriors, and brutal revelations gained by Peter Bishop, who quickly fled Boston to get as far away as possible from the man he believed to be his father, but who was finally revealed to him to be a kidnapper who yanked him away from his true family. It was a change of pace both for the plot and the general atmosphere of the series, creating a stand-alone episode that also revealed the true feelings--the wracking remorse and shame--felt by Walter Bishop. This week's gripping episode o

"Death seems to follow you around." - Philip Broyles This week's episode of Fringe ("Brown Betty"), written by Jeff Pinkner, J.H. Wyman, and Akiva Goldsman and directed by Seith Mann, offered a look into the mind of Walter Bishop, via the noir-tinged fairy tale he told Olivia's young niece Ella. It's a mind that's been increasingly affected by major feelings of guilt and regret about what he had done to a young Peter Bishop, the man that he raised as his son but whom he stole from his alternate universe counterpart. It was a bit of a break from the increasingly mythology-heavy episodes of late, which have adding in some newly swirling mysteries (who is the Secretary?) to Fringe 's already complex and emotional plot. Rather than see the team battle shapeshifters or freaky fringe scientists, this episode turned the focus inwards, forcing the team to examine their own fears and dreams. While Olivia continued to search for the missing Peter, Walter

"Death seems to follow you around..." On this week's episode of Fringe ("Brown Betty"), take a descent into the noir and the musical, thanks to a self-medicating Walter Bishop, who takes the opportunity to tell a story to Olivia's niece Ella while attempting to unburden his own guilt-stricken mind. FOX has released a trailer for this week's "Brown Betty" episode, which can be viewed in full below and which plays up the deliciously vintage film noir style of such 1940s classics as The Big Sleep and recasts our Fringe Division crusaders in some new roles. Fringe airs Thursday night at 9 pm ET/PT on FOX.

"You called me dad." - Walter Bishop This week's episode of Fringe ("The Man From the Other Side"), written by Josh Singer and Ethan Gross and directed by Jeffrey Hunt, paid off many of the clues and signals we've seen building throughout the second season of Fringe , particularly those swirling around Thomas Jerome Newton and the Bishop family secrets. It was the latter that was the most heartbreaking, coming as it did on the heels of a moment of profound connection between Walter and Peter, the first time that Peter had called Walter "dad." It was a yet another tiny but emotional resonant moment in a season positively overflowing with them, offering a glimmer of happiness that would all too easily be snatched away before the end of the episode. So what did I think of this week's episode of Fringe ? Let's crank up the Rush and find out. This season, Fringe has wisely found a balance between creepy/gross/bizarre science-related mysteries

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. Mark your calendars, Mad Men fans: Season Four of the period drama is set to launch on Sunday, July 25th at 10 pm ET/PT while new drama Rubicon will launch with two back-to-back episodes on Sunday, August 1st at 8 pm before it moves into its regular 9 pm timeslot the following week. "Sunday nights are where you find the best of premium television so it should be no surprise that AMC -- the home of premium television on basic cable -- is stacking our original dramas there as well," said Charlie Collier, president of AMC, in a statement. "We welcome back Mad Men and look forward to introducing Rubicon all on Sunday nights this summer." Rubicon stars James Badge Dale ( The Pacific ), Dallas Roberts ( Walk the Line ), Jessica Collins ( The Nine ), Christopher Evan Welch ( Vicky Cristina Barcelona ), Lauren Hodges ( Law & Order ) with Arliss Howard ( The Sandlot ) and Miranda Richardson ( Sleepy Hollow ). (via

I'm looking for a sign of forgiveness, a specific one, a white tulip." - Walter Bishop I've gotten more than a few emails, comments, and questions on Twitter asking what happened to my write-up of Thursday evening's transcendent episode of Fringe ("White Tulip"). Due to circumstances beyond my control (namely being out both Thursday and Friday evenings), I didn't get a chance to watch this week's episode until the weekend, a real rarity in the Televisionary household. But now that I've seen the episode, written by J.H. Wyman and Jeff Vlaming and directed by Jeffrey G. Hunt, I thought I'd weigh in on what was a remarkable installment of a season of Fringe that has found its true format: intense mysteries of the week that are grounded by searing and powerful emotional arcs involving the central characters. I've been shouting at the rooftops that John Noble deserves an Emmy nomination for his amazing work this season as Walter Bishop, who h

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello has an exclusive first-look at the upcoming musical episode of FOX's Fringe , set to air April 29th. "We didn’t set out to do a musical," Fringe 's executive producer Jeff Pinkner told Ausiello. "We set out to do an episode that explored Walter’s state of mind — he’s dealing with some very upsetting news. When we realized that the way Walter would deal with such news would be to try to anesthetize himself with copious amounts of marijuana, well, singing and dancing became a natural outcome." [Editor: Hmmm, just what could that "very upsetting news" be?] ( Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) A rather big speed bump has emerged during the ongoing talks between Conan O'Brien at FOX. Hollywood Reporter 's James Hibberd and Matthew Belloni are reporting that while the negotiations between the former Tonight Show host and FOX have been smoot

"Some Pandora's boxes are better left unopened." - Olivia Dunham Secrets are funny things. On the one hand, secrets are admissions of sort to an inner circle of trust; knowledge is, after all, power and knowing a secret gives one enormous sway over another. But that's also a hefty responsibility to shoulder: to carry around the weight of knowledge, to feel the pressure from such an onus. On this week's episode Fringe ("Olivia. In the Lab. With the Revolver."), Agent Olivia Dunham is feeling that weight digging into her subsconcious. In learning the truth about Peter, she's become, in a way, complicit in Walter's betrayal of Peter, agreeing to carry the guilt of what he's done to his son, to perpetuate the fraud that's been perpetuated for decades. Despite Olivia's vast reserves of strength, it's proving to be a burden that she doesn't want to shoulder any longer. She heard Walter's shocking confession in last week's e

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. The Chicago Tribune 's Maureen Ryan is reporting that Paula Malcomson ( Caprica ) has been cast in an eight-episode story arc on Season Three of FX's Sons of Anarchy , where she will play a character named Maureen. Sons of Anarchy is expected to return to FX's lineup in September, with production slated to begin in roughly three weeks' time. ( Chicago Tribune 's The Watcher ) SPOILER! Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Seth Gabel ( Dirty Sexy Money ) has joined the cast of FOX's Fringe . Gabel will play the lead Fringe Division investigator in the alternate universe and is slated to make his first appearance during the season's two-part finale, airing May 13th and 20th, and could, according to Ausiello, also recur next season. ( Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) The second half of Maureen Ryan's mammoth interview with Chuck co-creator Chris Fedak is now live at

"There is only one God in this lab and it is not yours." - Walter Bishop I said a lot of what I had to say about this week's remarkable episode of Fringe ("Peter"), in my advance review from earlier this week , but I can't pass up an opportunity to again throw my support behind a get-John-Noble-an-Emmy-straightaway campaign, particularly with regard to his staggeringly powerful performance in last night's episode. How Noble has been passed over in the past for a supporting actor nod is absolutely beyond me, but his deft and evocative turn in "Peter" is one for the history books, as he offered not one, but three, very different incarnations of Walter Bishop over the course of a single episode. No mean feat, especially when Noble managed to more or less carry the installment on his shoulders as the only series regular to appear in more than a handful of scenes. (In fact, he's in every scene, save one or two.) Last night's episode of Frin

Been missing Fringe ? You're not alone. FOX's sci-fi drama series Fringe returns tonight with the first of eight brand-new episodes and tonight's installment ("Peter") isn't one that should be missed, as Walter (John Noble) turns back the clocks to reveal the secret history of Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson) to an incredulous Olivia (Anna Torv). You can read my advance review of tonight episode's here and be sure to come back tomorrow to discuss the episode in-depth and share your thoughts about how much John Noble is deserving of an Emmy nomination. Fringe returns at 9 pm ET/PT tonight on FOX.

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello talks to 24 executive producer Howard Gordon about this season's ridiculous storyline involving Katee Sackhoff's Dana Walsh. "God almighty there has been a Dana backlash," Gordon told Ausiello. "I understand how it appears [to be] tiresome and lazy storytelling, but I really would betray anyone to try to sit in our chair and figure out how to do 24 continuous, real-time episodes, without using certain devices. I would implore people to be more patient with Dana." [Editor: out of curiosity, I'd love to know what readers think of Dana's plotline...] ( Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos has more details on Matt Damon's upcoming appearance on 30 Rock, where he'll be playing--gasp!--a love interest for Tina Fey's Liz Lemon and he may appear in more than one episode. "Though 30 Rock 's produc

There are some lines, which once crossed, cannot be uncrossed. FOX's sci-fi series Fringe returns later this week with a phenomenal episode ("Peter") that offers a look into the secret history of Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson). Airing Thursday evening, this episode might just be the very best of the season, if not the entire series, and should--if there was any justice in the world--net John Noble a well-deserved Emmy nomination. After the winter finale found Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) learning of Peter's true identity, this week's episode of Fringe ("Peter"), written by Jeff Pinkner, J.H. Wyman, and Josh Singer and directed by David Straiton, offers viewers a look back into the distant past as Walter (Noble) confesses to Olivia the reasons behind his actions. While Walter's words to Olivia comprise a narrative framework for the episode, the majority of the action takes place in the 1980s as Walter spins a tale of a father's loss and a fateful ac

Looking for something to watch this spring? Head over to The Daily Beast, where you can read my latest piece, "15 Reasons to Watch TV This Spring," where I round up fifteen new and returning series airing this spring--from Doctor Who , V, Nurse Jackie , and Fringe to Treme, Peep Show, and Top Chef Masters , among others--as well as some major events like the end of ABC's Lost in May. What are you most looking forward to this spring and what's caught your fancy as your latest television obsession? Head to the comments section to discuss.

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. Good news for Fringe fans: the Pattern will be continuing next season. FOX has officially renewed the drama series for a third season this fall. " Fringe tapped into a deep creative mine this year that built momentum throughout the season and helped give us our first real foothold on TV’s most competitive night,” said Kevin Reilly, President, Entertainment for Fox Broadcasting Company, in a statement. "The entire Fringe team – from the producers and writers to the cast and crew – has taken smart storytelling and top production quality to a whole new level. The rest of this season is mind-blowing, and we can’t wait to get started on the third installment of this amazing journey." Meanwhile, Fringe resumes with eight all-new episodes on Thursday, April 1st. (via press release) The Guardian 's Simon Hattenstone has a huge profile of new Doctor Who star Matt Smith, who takes over the mantle of the Doctor from forme